Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford, NjMeadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and IZOD Center) is an indoor venue located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The arena is located on New Jersey Route 120 and is across the highway from MetLife Stadium and the Meadowlands Racetrack. A covered footbridge connects one of MetLife Stadium's parking lots with the Meadowlands Arena's lot.
The arena was originally built to accommodate a move of the New York Nets basketball team to New Jersey and opened in 1981. In 1982, the Colorado Rockies hockey team joined the Nets in the new building and became known as the New Jersey Devils. The Nets and Devils were joined by the Seton Hall Pirates men's college basketball team in 1982.
In 2007, the Prudential Center opened in nearby Newark and the New Jersey Devils, for whom the arena was built, moved out. Seton Hall, whose campus in South Orange is closer to Newark than East Rutherford, followed and moved their basketball games there. The Nets remained for three more seasons before moving to Newark, where they played two seasons before departing New Jersey for Brooklyn and the Barclays Center. The men's basketball team from Fordham University played most of their 2010–11 home schedule at the arena.
Following the departure of all three of its major tenants, the arena continued to host occasional non-sporting events, such as touring shows and concerts, and other local events. The state-owned facility reported losses for 2013, and was projected to have $8.5 million in losses for 2015. On January 15, 2015, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority voted to shut down Izod Center, and have Prudential Center acquire hosting rights to events scheduled for the arena over the next two years in a $2 million deal.